All you beasts wild and tame Bless the Lord

Dumb Ways to Die - Greatest PSA... Ever

From The Daily:

Australian Metro creates a brilliant safety video entitled ‘Dumb Ways to Die’

The Australian Metro wanted to get out the message about being safe around its tracks in the most memorable way possible. Behold their catchy masterpiece of adorable mayhem, entitled “Dumb Ways to Die.”

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• Greatest PSA ... ever

Same-sex 'Marriage' Defeated in Australia

Federal Parliament Overwhelmingly Votes Down Proposals

CANBERRA, SEPT. 24, 2012 (Zenit.org). – Two proposals to legalize same-sex marriage in the Australian federal parliament last week were strongly defeated.

On Sept. 19 the House of Representatives voted on a proposal by backbencher Stephen Jones, of the Australian Labor Party, the party currently in power at the federal level, to legalize same-sex “marriage.”

The Labor Party allowed a free vote on the proposal, while the coalition of opposition parties, led by Tony Abbott, held to their promise of voting against any attempt to introduce same-sex “marriage.”

The vote was 42 in favour of legalization and 98 against. Both Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott voted against the bill.

"The overwhelming vote in the House of Representatives in favour of marriage between a man and a woman is greatly welcomed," says Chris Meney, director of the Archdiocese of Sydney's Life, Marriage and Family Centre. "It is also a vote affirming the truth of how marriage has always been understood," he commented in a news story published on the Web site of the Archdiocese of Sydney.

"Given the broad consultation over a significant period and the number of bills which have been introduced on this issue it is to be hoped our elected representatives will now be free to devote the necessary time to other issues which are of importance to all Australians," Meney commented.

The following day another vote on same-sex marriage was held in the Australian Senate, and again it was overwhelmingly defeated, by 41 to 26.

Among those speaking against the Senate initiative was Labor senator John Hogg, who is the President of the Senate. As a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation noted, he rarely speaks during debates on legislation, but he did speak out on this issue.

"I have a deep-seated belief that marriage is between a man and a woman exclusively," he said.

"I utterly reject the offensive language of some of those supporting the bill that people who share my views are discriminatory or homophobic,” he added.

"This is absolutely nonsense of the first order and is a desperate resort to try and isolate those who don't share their views," the Senate president said.

The votes followed what Paul Kelly, political commentator for the Australian newspaper, called a two year intense campaign by the Green Party, half the Labor Party, the gay lobby and progressive media in favour of same-sex “marriage.”

State laws

“Australia is now consigned to a lengthy culture war over same-sex marriage,” he added in his Sept. 22 commentary.

Despite the two votes in federal parliament the debate on same-sex “marriage” in Australia is far from over, with the focus turning to the state level.

The lower house of parliament in Tasmania has already voted in favour of same-sex “marriage” and this week it will be voted on by the upper house. The outcome of the vote is uncertain, given that the majority of the members of the upper house are independents.

Proponents of same-sex “marriage” have also said they will introduce initiatives in the state parliaments of South Australia and New South Wales.

The situation is further complicated by a debate over the constitutionality of state vs. federal laws regarding marriage. Commentators agree that any state law allowing same-sex “marriage” will be challenged in the High Court of Australia.

There are also concerns that any approval of same-sex “marriage” will create a church-state conflict.

“Changing the Marriage Act would, in practice, compel Catholics and other faith communities to recognise and accept same-sex marriage in their schools, charities, social welfare, health care and adoption services,” warned Sydney’s Cardinal George Pell in a submission he made in a Senate committee inquiry on the issue of same-sex “marriage.”

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• Same-sex 'Marriage' Defeated in Australia

Australian minister warns of Republican 'crazies'

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia's deputy prime minister warned Friday that the greatest threat to the U.S. economy are the "cranks and crazies" in the Republican Party, a rare foray into American domestic politics that was blasted by the opposition.

Wayne Swan, who also is treasurer and his center-left Labor Party government's ranking finance minister, took aim at the tea party during a speech to a business forum, breaking a convention among Australia's major parties to steer clear of U.S. domestic political debates.

"Let's be blunt and acknowledge the biggest threat to the world's biggest economy are the cranks and crazies that have taken over a part of the Republican Party," Swan said.

He said "the extreme right tea party wing" of the Republican Party had held the national interest hostage during last year's debate over the U.S. borrowing limit despite President Barack Obama's "goodwill and strong efforts."

He said it was imperative that Congress reach an agreement to support growth and avoid a "fiscal cliff" of deep government spending cuts and higher taxes in January, which he said could push the U.S. economy back into recession.

The conservative opposition said Swan's speech betrayed his "hatred" of Republicans.

"The Labor Party is peddling hatred and they're got to stop," opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey told reporters. "They hate the Republican Party. I'd like Wayne Swan to say something positive about someone somewhere."

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who travels to New York next week to address the U.N. General Assembly, defended her deputy's comments as "appropriate."

"What happens in the U.S. economy matters to the world economy and it matters to us," she told reporters. "Wayne Swan was making that very common sense point today."

Adam Lockyer, a lecturer at Sydney University's U.S. Studies Center, described Swan's speech as "a clumsy political move" that left him open to attack from his political enemies.

Lockyer said Swan might have been attempting to link the tea party to the obstructionism of the Australian opposition, which has thwarted Labor's legislative agenda in a finely-balanced Parliament.

Australia has long maintained that its close relationship with Washington, and its 61-year-old defense alliance, remains strong regardless of who is in the White House.

Former conservative Prime Minister John Howard was widely criticized in 2007 when he claimed Obama, then a Democratic presidential nominee, represented al-Qaida's interests.

Howard, a staunch U.S. ally in the Iraq war who lost elections later that year after 11 years in power, created one of the first controversies of Obama's presidential campaign by attacking his plan to withdraw troops.

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• Australian minister warns of Republican 'crazies'

Ring of fire

A rare 100-foot high fire tornado – known as a ‘fire devil’ – formed in the Australian outback

(The Daily) A recent blaze in the Australian outback caused this rare 40-minute, 100-foot high fire tornado, known as a fire devil. The phenomenon occurs when a column of warm, rising air comes into contact with a wildfire on the ground.

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• Ring of fire

Koala surprises canoeists by hitching ride in Australia

(BBC)  A group of canoeists on Australia's Gold Coast were surprised over the weekend to see a koala swimming near the bank of a river and even more shocked when it crawled into one of their canoes and hitched a ride.

Although it is not unknown for the marsupials to take to the water, experts believe the animal might have felt trapped on a tidal bank in Tallebudgera Creek and decided the canoe was its best way to escape.

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• Koala surprises canoeists by hitching ride in Australia

Leader of Australian Ordinariate to Be Named June 15

Auxiliary of Melbourne: 'This Will Have a Remarkable Future'

MELBOURNE, Australia, JUNE 8, 2012 (Zenit.org).- The personal ordinariate for Australian Anglicans seeking full communion with Rome will get its first ordinary on June 15, the Archdiocese of Melbourne reported.

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, as it is to be named, will be under the patronage of St. Augustine of Canterbury who was sent by Pope Gregory the Great in 596 AD to evangelize the English.
“I would encourage all the Catholics in Melbourne to take an interest in this new venture," said Auxiliary Bishop Peter Elliott of Melbourne, project delegate for the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. "It is an historical moment, of course it is small but from small things big things grow and I think this will have a remarkable future.”

The Australian ordinariate is the third to be established. The first, the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, under the patronage of St. John Henry Newman, was established in the United Kingdom in January of 2011. The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter was established in the United States in January of this year.

Benedict XVI's 2009 apostolic constitution "Anglicanorum Coetibus" offered a way for groups of Anglicans to enter the Catholic Church through the establishment of these personal ordinariates, a new type of canonical structure.

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• Leader of Australian Ordinariate to Be Named June 15

Politically Correct Sissies Freak Over Australian Olympic Swimmers Posing With Guns

By Molly Gray

(CNN) -- Two Australian Olympic swimmers who posted pictures on Facebook of themselves brandishing [perfectly legal] weapons have been ordered to take them down by the country's swimming authorities.

The image, taken in a gun shop in Santa Clara, California, showed Nick D'Arcy with two pistols standing next to Kenrick Monk who is holding two shotguns across his chest, according to a Friday report in Australia's Herald Sun. The swimmers were training in the U.S. ahead of the Olympic Games in London later this year.

Swimming Australia said in a statement that it does not condone "the posting of inappropriate content on Facebook, Twitter or any social media platform."

As of Friday morning, neither of the swimmers' Facebook pages or Twitter accounts contained the photo.

"It was all just meant to be a bit of fun, the photos were just a bit of fun," D'Arcy told local media after returning to Australia. "If anyone's been offended I deeply apologize. It was never the intent; it was never supposed to be offensive."

Dozens of fans have posted on Monk's public Facebook page saying they support the athletes and that Swimming Australia had blown the photo out of proportion.

Swimming Australia said they will be speaking with both athletes regarding the incident.

While the pair faces possible Olympic sanctions, D'Arcy has been embroiled in controversy in the past.

In 2008, he was dropped from the Beijing Olympic team following an assault charge for hitting teammate Simon Cowley and breaking his jaw, the Australian Daily Telegraph reported at the time.

Both swimmers were named in Australia's team in March.

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• Australian Olympic swimmers in hot water after gun photo

Hero, who saved 500 lives, dies at 85

THE "Angel of The Gap", Sydney's Don Ritchie, has died aged 85. 
 
By Miles Godfrey

(The Australian)  Mr. Ritchie spent 50 years coaxing desperate people back from The Gap, the notorious cliff at Watsons Bay where hundreds have died or thought about taking their lives.

He helped save 500 despairing souls - usually with little more than compassion, a warm smile and a hot cuppa.

"Those who knew him knew he was a very strong person and a very capable person," Mr Ritchie's daughter Sue said today.

Federal MP Malcolm Turnbull, whose electorate includes The Gap, added: "A true hero, one of our greatest Australians. RIP."

Born in Vaucluse in 1926, Mr Ritchie died peacefully at home on Old South Head Road, Watsons Bay yesterday.

The former navy seaman turned life insurance salesman was never one to shout about his exploits.

He helped because he could.

Ms Ritchie said: "It was just something that he saw and that he had to do something about."

NSW Mental Health Minister Kevin Humphries recalled when Mr Ritchie was named a Local Hero in the 2011 Australian of the Year Awards.

"Upon accepting the award Mr Ritchie urged people to never be afraid to speak to those most in need," he said.

"Always remember the power of the simple smile, a helping hand, a listening ear and a kind word."

A funeral will be held in Sydney on Friday.

Mr Ritchie's family asked for donations to be made to the Black Dog Institute or to Lifeline.

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 131114.

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• Hero, who saved 500 lives, dies at 85

Michael Voris: Wassup in Wagga Wagga?

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• Australia's Saint

Australia's Saint

Orthodox in Australia Acquiring Abandoned Catholic, Protestant and Anglican Churches

Protopriest Michael Protopopov gives an interview to www.pravoslavie.ru to discuss the reasons why Catholics, Protestants and Anglicans are deserting their churches...

"The sale of church property on a gargantuan scale is an indication of the fact the Australian populace is living in a post-Christian age. More and more people are becoming secular as opposed to being religious and spiritual. Fifty years ago, the Australian populace was much more religious; the Catholic Church has begun to recede dramatically since the Second Vatican Council

of 1963. Likewise the Anglican Church has seen plummeting parishioner numbers since the introduction of homosexuality as not a ban to clergy, same sex marriages, female clergy and even female bishops.

The closure of Anglican, Protestant and Catholic churches in rural and populated areas is also due to the fact that they lack priests, nuns and seminarians. People have lost commitment.

Especially Catholics aren’t committed as they were before the Second Vatican Council of 1963. Those people that were once committed, those people who founded these churches, have wandered away from the Catholic Church, and their children have perhaps grown up not knowing Christianity at all. Thus, out of the youth there are hardly any candidates for seminary or monasticism. Without a solid seminary and monastic program, the Catholic Church can hardly expect a positive future.

It is quite sad that Catholic and Anglican churches are being abandoned and sold. For example, at the Russian Orthodox parish in Warrnambool, there are beautiful, old stained glass windows which have inscriptions in memory of the founders of the church, brass candle sticks which have engraved in them names of parishioners who are now forgotten by their own people. Those parishioners and founders of the church are remembered in our prayers during every liturgy—as is standard practice in the Orthodox Church to pray for the “founders of this holy temple.”

• Link

Rebel Australia priest defies sacking: reports

SYDNEY (AFP) – A rebel Catholic priest in Australia, who was sacked for blessing gay couples and allowing women to preach, defied his archbishop and led mass on Sunday, media reports said.

Father Peter Kennedy preached in front of hundreds of parishioners gathered to show support after his dismissal last week, national news agency AAP reported.

The Catholic church said Kennedy's nominated replacement did not attend Sunday service in Brisbane on police advice following a bomb threat against Archbishop John Bathersby, who sacked the 71-year-old Kennedy.

Kennedy does not dispute breaching church rules but argues his actions are in line with the Vatican's call for people to take full and active participation in the liturgy.

"It's sad the archbishop is not here because if he was, he could not turn away from this community," Kennedy told the congregation, denying that any of his followers were behind the bomb threat.

He told AFP last week he had blessed about 10 gay and lesbian unions during his time at St Mary's parish and welcomed women preachers, describing the Catholic Church as "the biggest boy's club in the world."

The congregation reportedly chanted "we shall not be moved" at the end of the service, with parishioner Allaway Allan telling the Australian Broadcasting Corporation he was not surprised by the show of support.

"This just demonstrates what a damn good job Father Peter Kennedy is doing," Allan said.

Archbishop Bathersby said an independent mediator would most likely be called to solve the impasse.

"The Church is fully entitled to have this decree obeyed and to have its ownership of the St Mary's church respected," he said Saturday.

• Australia priest defies sacking: reports
• Archbp. of Brisbane: bomb threat for removing Fr. Kennedy from St. Mary’s

Fr. Z: "In the meantime, I hear Fr. Kennedy has some strong support from an interesting quarter. The site Perth Now tells us that the UFO crowds thinks Fr. Kennedy is their sort of guy!

A small party of Raelians, who believe that alien beings have intervened in earthly affairs, were outside St Mary’s with signs supporting Fr Kennedy.

And in case you were thinking that this all sounds familiar, Fr. Kennedy clears it up:

"But we can take heart from the words of Jesus himself, who was judged harshly for his unorthodox behaviour – ‘By their fruits you will know them’."

Indeed. The fruits are standing outside with signs."

• Link

Letter from Cardinal Levada to the Traditional Anglican Communion

• From RORATE CÆLI (<-- click for more)

Pope Benedict holds emotional encounter with terminally ill police officer

Sydney, Jul 16, 2008 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- After resting two days at the Opus Dei Center in the Australian Blue Mountains, Pope Benedict XVI held an emotional encounter with members of his security team there, including one terminally ill police officer, before leaving for Sydney.

The Pontiff held a warm, informal meeting with the policemen and firefighters responsible for his security at the Opus Dei Center. Among them was a former officer who is now seriously ill. The retired officer had worked in the police force for 25-years and was brought to the Pope's presence on a stretcher.

After receiving Benedict's blessing and a Rosary, the policeman unfolded the Rosary in his hand and immediately gave the Pontiff his police hat as a present.

Benedict responded with an additional blessing, words of comfort, and placed the police hat on his head as a sign of appreciation.

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Pilgrim Youth to Eat 3.5 Million Meals

Numbers Give Snapshot of Sydney Event

SYDNEY, Australia, JULY 16, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Some 225,000 youth are participating in World Youth Day, which began Tuesday and will end Sunday with a closing Mass that could gather a half million people.

The organizers report that 125,000 of the young pilgrims are from countries other than Australia; another 100,000 are from the host nation. The event is the biggest and most multinational ever held on Australian soil, even more so than the 2000 Olympics.

The United States is the foreign country that sent the most pilgrims, with 15,000.

Youth Day organizers have provided these statistics as well:

An estimated 8,000 volunteers are assisting with the activities. Some 2,000 priests and 500 bishops and cardinals are present; 500 chasubles were made for the prelates and a stole for each of the priests.

One million hosts for Holy Communion were made and 120 bottles of wine will be used for the opening and closing Masses.

Pilgrims will eat 3.5 million meals and 232,000 candles will be used during the event. About 100,000 young people are sleeping in 400 schools and parishes and 10,000 in Sydney Olympic Park.

About 100 actors are involved with the Stations of the Cross performance.

Australia has approximately 5.12 million Catholics in 1,363 parishes. This is approximately 26% of the population. It has 28 territorial dioceses, four dioceses of Eastern Catholic Churches and one military diocese.

The greater Sydney region, with its four dioceses, has about 1.5 million Catholics. The Archdiocese of Sydney has almost 600,000 of those in some 141 parishes with 480 priests.

There have been three previous papal visits to Australia. In 1970, Pope Paul VI went; in 1986, Pope John Paul II; and in 1995, the Polish Pontiff went again, beatifying Mary MacKillop.

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World Youth Day Photos

Pope Benedict XVI (R) holds the hand of a former Australian police officer at the Kenthurst Study Center, in Sydney, July 16, 2008.